Ruby Wedding

 It was our Ruby Wedding anniversary on Sunday, and we had decided to mark the event with a weekend in Wellington. This was primarily because Nicky’s niece Alison (Milly) lives in Wellington and she was one of only two people who were at our wedding that now live in Aotearoa. The other is my niece Rachel, who lives in Wanaka and was only 4 weeks old when we married. Unfortunately she had other commitments so wasn’t able to join us.

We were booked into the Copthorne hotel by John from the quiz team because he knows people in the hotel business and can get very good deals. After packing our overnight bags on Saturday morning we drove south in the sunshine, stopping in Levin for a cuppa. We arrived at the hotel a little after 2pm and were greeted by this in our room:

This was the view from the window, which looked good both by daylight and at night:

After the drive down we fancied some fresh air and activity so walked to the Portrait Gallery and along some of the waterfront. Milly and Tim had invited us to their place for dinner and we arrived a little early to be greeted by them, Clemie (their youngest) and Petra the dog. Posy, Mary and Kit came downstairs once dinner was almost on the table. We had an excellent meal and a lovely evening.

Back at the hotel we slept better than I expected for the first night in a strange bed. We left the curtains open to enjoy the view of the lights across the harbour. Our Sunday morning breakfast was taken at Lol’s Stay, a lovely wee café just next to the hotel. Nicky had scrambles eggs and bacon on toast and I had black pudding with rosti, fried egg, bacon and mango chutney. Both were excellent.

Aiming for the cable car up the hill, we walked round much of the waterfront on our way there. I was very pleased to discover that Sunday was an off-peak time so we could use the cable car for free with our Gold Cards. The view from the top was great:

We started walking down a path which I thought would take us on a circuitous route, but actually took us all the way down the hill through the botanic gardens. It was a lovely walk and we ended up at the Picnic café by the begonia house in need of a cuppa. 

We were started to feel quite jaded, and an hour or more later when we reached Te Papa a sit down and some grub were required. The museum café provided lovely roast veg soup which we both enjoyed. By the time we got back to the hotel we both had a snooze.

Milly and Tim joined us in the One80º restaurant in the hotel. We ordered a range of starters to share (including Southern Cheese Rolls!). Nicky and Tim both had salmon, Milly and I had steak. A bottle of The Ned Pinot Gris went down very well. The staff were excellent and we had another lovely relaxed evening. Tim and Milly don’t get to go out for a meal together very often, so we really appreciated being able to give them a treat and include them in our celebration.

It was back to Lol’s for breakfast this morning. We both ordered eggs Benedict, mine with an extra of black pudding. Again excellent and the café was much quieter with it being Monday. We checked out of the hotel and began our drive north with a little rain and cloud. As we left the CBD we encountered sunshine, which stayed with us nearly all the way. It was cloudy and dull when we arrived in Whanganui, but that didn’t take the shine off our lovely weekend.

Take care, Rick and Nicky